WEBVTT

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(airplane engines droning)

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^- Well, we're doing here and memorializing Walter Manning

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^and it was near this date, 73 years ago

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^that we were on a fighter sweep

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in this area of the country here,

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and that's when Walter got shot down,

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and later on, about three days later,

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met his demise at being captured by a mob

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and executed at the time.

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(soft, dramatic music)

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^Name is Harry Stewart, lieutenant colonel,

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^United States Air Force, retired.

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^I met Lieutenant Manning sometime before that,

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^maybe a year and a half before then.

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^We both went in the service together

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and we went to same field where we trained at.

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I joined up with him in the same squadron

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when I went overseas and joined him in

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301st Fighter Squadron in Ramitelli, Italy at the time.

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Manning was quite a guy, you know,

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and he wanted to fly very, very badly.

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He wanted to get his pilot's wings

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and do his duty for his country.

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And I guess he did all he wanted to do

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as far as the flying was concerned.

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That was what he was chiefly after.

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He wanted to be a fighter pilot.

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Well, it certainly means a great deal to me,

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being, you know, one of the six pilots

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who flew along with him when he met his demise.

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But the other thing is that the people

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of the United States know nothing about

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what actually happened to Walter Manning,

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and I'm hoping, with all of this

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that we can take the story back to the United States

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and let the people know what had happened to him.

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(boots clacking)

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- [Man] Company,

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right.

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Oomp.

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Reset.

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- [Harry] The biggest thing was the extent

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that the government had gone to to memorialize

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the memory of Walter Manning,

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but also the display, the pageantry

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that they put on at the time there

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was just beyond any expectations that I had.

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And now the memorial that we see

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that stands over to the side of us

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is quite a tribute to the memory of Manning.

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Today we turned out to be allies

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and quite comfortable allies.

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I think that he would be very forgiving

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of the demise that he had

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and I think that he would be very pleased

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with the memorial that had been named in his honor.

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(soft, dramatic music)